Journal 3

January 25, 2006

gallery 2Yesterday we were zapped back out of the “real” world of lower middle class life in Guatemala City. We were getting used to that world. Now we are placed in El Gringo Perdido (The Lost Gringo) as tourists this weekend to soak up some Mayan history. It feels so different to be treated as a tourist wandering around archeological sites with other people of Germanic descent trying to comprehend all there is to Mayan history, religion, and culture. No one really spoke to us in Spanish, most vendors had adapted to tourists. It was rather frustrating to experience them adapting to us since we are in their country. I feel we should be adapting to them. In the city we feel more as guests or family visitors truly engaging in their lives working to learn from the people there. I did not realize I would feel such a negative shift in being a tourist.